Or, if there were a sympathy in choice,
War, death, or sickness did lay siege to it,
Making it momentary as a sound,
Swift as a shadow, short as any dream,
Brief as the lightning in the collied night,
That, in a spleen, unfolds both heaven and earth,
And ere a man hath power to say "Behold!"
The jaws of darkness do devour it up.
So quick bright things come to confusion.
– William Shakespeare
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 1, Scene 1. Lysander is discussing true love, whose course, he has decided, "never did run smooth." In this speech about the transience of love, he lists the obstacles that can keep lovers apart, including war and death and sickness. He uses a series of metaphors of striking metaphors to liken the brevity of love to a shadow, dream, and lighting bolt, briefly illuminating the dark night, then suddenly being devoured by the jaws of darkness. The illusory nature of love is mentioned when it is compared it to a dream, and also to a "quick bright thing" that ends in confusion.